The church is a great place to grow in your faith as it means at least once a week you are taking time out to:

(1) focus on worshipping (showing our respect and love for) God and getting to know him more intimately by singing praise songs to him, during which we can often sense God's presence with us, which is amazing;

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Giving your life to Jesus is just the start of your Christian journey; we all need to grow in our faith and understanding of God's ways and over the years we change for the better as our motivation and plans fall more and more into line with God's motivation and plans.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

You can be a Christian without going to church, but it makes life harder for you. God designed us to be inter-dependent, meaning we are at our best when we work together, rather than when we try to go it alone; we all have different strengths and weaknesses and can compliment and support one another. There are lots of things in life - stresses, problems, temptations - that try to lure Christians away from being true to their faith and God. If you belong to a church you've got your "church family" to encourage, look out for, and care for you; and they've got you on their team too.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Going to church doesn't make you a Christian, not even if you've gone to church every Sunday since the day you were born! You can only become a Christian by personally choosing to invite Jesus into your life as your Lord and Saviour. As a Christian, spending time with God on your own (in Bible study and prayer and quiet thought) is important as you get to know someone better if you spend some quality one-to-one time with them. But church is important too.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Why go to church?

If you're not already a Christian you may want to go to church to see what Christians get up to there, and soak in the atmosphere of the singing, praying and teaching from the Bible.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

If you have any further questions you'd like answered please email us.

We hope to see you at Richmond Park Church soon!

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Hello! My name is David Holland and here I am with my lovely wife, Hae Sook. I'm the pastor of Richmond Park Church, which is on the corner of Palmerston Road and St Clements Road in Boscombe. We're a group of ordinary people who believe in an extraordinary God. We've put this website together to give you a taste of what we believe, what we do, and what we are like - enjoy looking around!

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Easter Chicks

These emerge from the eggs the hare/rabbit brings! A pagan symbol of re-birth, Christianised as re-birth in Jesus or the chick breaking through the egg shell as a picture of Jesus emerging from the tomb.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Easter Bunny and Easter Egg Hunts

From the goddess with the hare's head, or hare companion, Eostre, hares and rabbits were associated with enviable prolific procreation as part of the worship of all things spring-time and fertile. The Easter Bunny is a hare/rabbit spirit that lays eggs in the grass, leading to the tradition of Easter egg hunts!! This concept has not had a Christian make-over!

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Easter Eggs

The Babylonian spring goddess Astarte is said to have fallen from heaven in an egg. It was thought that all life came from an egg, and so they were a symbol of the re-birth of spring. Read more about Easter Eggs. As Britain was converted to Christianity, Easter eggs were given a mental Christian make-over, to change them from representing fertility to representing the stone that was rolled away from the tomb where the body of Jesus was laid or the empty tomb if it was a hollow egg!

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

The Cross

The cross, or crucifix, is a Christian symbol of Easter time. Though the name from the earlier pre-Christian spring festival stuck, Easter Sunday is celebrated by Christians as the anniversary of the resurrection (coming back to life) of Jesus Christ, who three days earlier had been crucified (put to death on a cross). The cross is a symbol of Jesus Christ, his conquering of sin and death, and his love for us. Read more about Jesus

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Easter - Where did the name come from?

Many pagan cultures celebrated at this time of year to welcome the return of spring and the new plant life that grew and the animals that were born. The pagans worshipped gods of fertility and new life, such as the Druidic Ishtar, Egyptian Osiris, Babylonian Astarte (who sprung from an egg which fell from heaven), and the Saxon goddess of dawn called Eostre (often seen accompanied by a hare, or with a hare's head), from which we get the name "Easter".

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

What is "The Passion"?

Easter, and the events in the life of Jesus leading up to Easter, have also been called "The Passion (of Christ)"; this is from Saint Luke's description in the Bible of the apperance of Jesus to his disciples after his resurrection: "he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs" (Acts 1:3). The word "passion" was used in Latin and in old English translations of the book of Acts (originally written in Greek) whereas in modern English we would say "suffering".

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

However, after several decades of making a conscious effort to separate themselves from things which are merely "tradition", and not specifically Biblical, many evangelical churches are coming round to the idea that these traditional ceremonies are not without merit. Some are being re-introduced into independent churches and traditional churches, in a slightly revised fashion focusing on doing something pro-active to help others during Lent as a constructive way of not focusing on our selfs, eg LoveLifeLiveLent and the "Buy Less" "credit card".

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

All the other holy days of the seven weeks of Easter observances that the traditional churches still follow were made up during the fourth century AD. Some independent evangelical churches, like Richmond Park Church, choose not to stringently follow traditions that were made up by the fourth century church, but which are not spelled out in the Bible. There is nothing inherently wrong with these traditions, as they are all designed to point people in the direction of the example and life of Jesus, but neither is it compulsory to observe these created "holy days" to be a faithful Christian.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

At a meeting of church leaders -called the Council of Nicaea- in 325 AD to try to coordinate practise it was decided that Easter was to be celebrated on the first Sunday after the full moon that directly followed the Vernal (or Spring) Equinox. In most years this would coincide with Passover, but it would not always be so. The Eastern Churches still retained the earlier Passover practice for several centuries, and the British (Celtic) Church did not adopt the Roman calendar until Roman missionaries arrived in the sixth century.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

From Passover to Easter

You won't find any references about how to celebrate Easter in the Bible! The Bible only instructs us to observe communion in rememberance of Jesus death, and we don't know how the early Christians chose to commemorate the resurrection. We do know that by the second century AD some Christians were celebrating it Passover-style (mainly the Eastern church), and some celebrated on the Sunday after Passover as a distinctly seperate event (mainly the Roman church).

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Some Christians, particularly Messianic Jews (ie. Jews who have become Christians), celebrate "Easter" by observing the actual Passover meal ("the Seder" or "Haggadah" or "Last Supper"), drawing out the references to Jesus in this Old Testament festival. see

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

3) The First Fruits. The resurrection of Jesus happened as the priests were presenting an offering of the first sheaf of the newly ripened barley harvest. Jesus was the first fruits from the grave.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

2) The Four Cups. In the Passover there are four cups of wine to drink, two before the meal and two after the meal. These are to remember the events of Exodus 6:6-7: I will bring you out; I will free you; I will redeem you; and I will take you as my people. These are things Jesus also promised.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Parallels between Passover and Jesus include:

1) The Lamb. Jesus chose to be the lamb without defect that was sacrificed for our sins, in the same way that the Israelites had had to kill a lamb per family for God to save their lives (1Corinthians 5:7).

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

It is not a coincidence that the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus happened at the same time as Passover. The festivals in the Old Testament (that Jewish people still observe today) were both celebrations of how God had helped the Israelites and pictures of what Jesus was going to do.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

What is Passover and what has it got to do with Easter?

The Jewish celebration of Passover, or "Pesach" in Hebrew, was started about 1200 years before Jesus. The origins and form of this festival are described in the Bible, in chapter 12 of the book of Exodus. It is from when Moses was asking the Pharaoh to let the Jews -who were at that time slaves- leave Egypt, and because Pharaoh kept refusing, God punished the Egyptians by killing all their first born sons. The Jewish families were kept safe by daubing lamb's blood on their door-posts - when God saw this blood he "passed over" those homes.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

It is unhelpful that the anniversary of the resurrection of Jesus is commonly known as "Easter", a name derived from a pagan god. A more appropriate name might be the "Christian Passover". Many other modern languages derive their name for Easter from the Latin pascha, in turn taken from the Hebrew pesach or Passover, eg the French "Paques", the Spanish "Pascua" and the Italian "Pasqua". This acknowledges that the Christian feast is a successor to the Jewish Passover.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Why is it called "Easter"?

Long before Jesus, many pagan cultures already celebrated at this time of year to welcome the return of spring and the new plant life that grew and the animals that were born. The pagans worshipped gods of fertility and new life, such as the Druidic Ishtar, Egyptian Osiris, Babylonian Astarte (who sprung from an egg which fell from heaven), and the Saxon goddess of dawn with a hare's head (or hare companion) called Eostre, from which we get the name "Easter".

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

"Without the feeding of the five thousand or the walking on water, we'd still have Christianity. But without the resurrection, it would be just a minor cult in first-century Judaism." (Michael Symmons Roberts, "The Miracles of Jesus" )

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

History records show that Jesus was crucified outside of the city of Jerusalem in around 33AD, just before the Jewish festival of Passover. He was executed after Jewish religious leaders accused him of being a would-be revolutionary who wanted to overturn Roman rule. But Christians believe that God planned for this to happen and that in the spiritual realm the death, and then resurrection, of Jesus was necessary to conquer sin and enable believers to live a life guided by God's forgiveness and Holy Spirit.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

More on the origins of Easter

Easter is the spring-time holiday associated with chocolate eggs and bunny rabbits. For Christians it is the anniversary and celebration of the resurrection of Jesus.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Spring Flowers

A pagan sign of re-birth and new life, spring flowers were said to be a reminder of the new life we have with Jesus.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK

Passion Plays

In the Middle Ages "Passion Plays" were put on to re-enact the story of Easter, in the same way as we have nativity plays to re-enact the Christmas story. Passion Plays are still enacted today in Spain and Latin America, but are not common in Britain, except for the tradition of Good Friday processions, which used to be part of the plays. Having said that, two noticeable modern examples are the controversial 2004 Mel Gibson movie "The Passion of the Christ" and the Manchester Passion, televised in 2006.

richmondparkchurch.org.uk an evangelical pentecostal church in Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset, UK